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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26594143">Five Times Ben Braided Rey’s Hair And One Time He Unbraided It</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ayearandaday/pseuds/Ayearandaday'>Ayearandaday</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Age Difference, Alderaanian Braiding Traditions, Alderaanian hair-braiding, Alderaanian unbraiding traditions, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Because it's Ben Solo we're talking about, Ben Solo is a soft boi, Ben braids Rey's hair, Ben is a big fluffy teddy bear, Childhood Friends, Don't worry they'll figure it out, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, HEA, Hair Braiding, I bet you've figured it out already, I forgot to tag pining, Idiots in Love, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Pining, Present Tense, Rey is a sweetheart, Romantic Fluff, Rose Tico is sharp, Seriously he's marshmallow, Soft Ben Solo, Sweet, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, and from the title, and they lived happily ever after, because it's written by me, they are soft</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 02:53:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,135</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26594143</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ayearandaday/pseuds/Ayearandaday</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The first time teenage Ben meets kid Rey he ends up braiding her hair. Little does he know that it will become their own little ritual for many years to come.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>50</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>241</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Five Times Ben Braided Rey’s Hair And One Time He Unbraided It</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Fluff is hard, but I'm trying!</p><p>Many thanks to my amazing beta fulcrum_of_pemberley!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Why do I have to do it?”</p><p>At fifteen, Ben isn’t supposed to whine like a baby, but he just can’t help himself. His parents want to go out with Uncle Chewie and Aunt Maz and he, for some reason, has to babysit the kid they foster since her nanny is unavailable. How is that fair?!</p><p>“Because I said so,” Leia responds calmly, double-checking her make-up in the mirror.</p><p>Ben growls.</p><p>“That’s not fair, what if I want to go out, too?” He realizes how dumb his argument is as his mother gives him a skeptical look. Ben never goes out, not unless Poe forces him to and even then he’d be kicking and screaming. “I’m not even grounded,” he tries, his last resort.</p><p>“One more word and you will be,” Leia shoots back easily. They both know it isn’t exactly a threat for him, but it’s a matter of principle.</p><p>Ben is undeterred. “Babysitters get paid.”</p><p>His mother rolls her eyes. “I left you pizza money. There they are,” she says cheerfully as the doorbell rings and Han lets in the guests. “Be nice.”</p><p>Now it’s his turn to roll his eyes. If he’s forced into this, he’ll be as ‘nice’ as he wants. Ben drags his legs as slowly as he can down the stairs and by the time he’s down his mother has already managed to coax the tiny girl, Rey, from behind Maz. He knows little about kids, but she looks too slim for a six-year-old and her eyes are wary. Her hair is in three odd buns and she wears jeans overalls instead of the frilly dresses girls are supposed to prefer. He’s not sure what to make of her.</p><p>“Hello, darling,” Leia coos, reminding him how much she’s always wanted to give him a baby sister. “This is Ben.”</p><p>“Hey, kid,” he offers awkwardly, trying to channel his father’s easy charm. It goes as well as expected.</p><p>Rey glares at him with all her might.</p><p>“I’m no <em>kid</em>.”</p><p>“Sure.” Ben doesn’t try to sound condescending on purpose, but he does anyway.</p><p>His parents groan.</p><p>The girl gives him a shrewd look. “If I’m a kid, you are, too,” she proclaims with all the audacity of a six-year-old.</p><p>Their parents burst out laughing. He flushes.</p><p>“I think they’ll hit it off just fine,” Han remarks with a smirk. “Have fun, <em>kids</em>.”</p><p>Ben grounds his teeth loud enough for everyone to hear, but nobody pays attention anymore, the adults are already leaving. The key turns in the lock and he’s left alone with a mouthy kid who eyes him suspiciously.</p><p>“So?” he tries.</p><p>“So?” Rey mimics his pose.</p><p>What do kids do? What do <em>girls</em> do? Ben has little interest in Barbie dolls or My Little Pony or whatever Disney movie they are into now. He worries his bottom lip between his teeth pensively as Rey studies him like a peculiar insect.</p><p>“Do you want pizza?” he offers finally. “You can pick the toppings.”</p><p>Her smile is like someone suddenly turned on the sun.</p><p>“I can?” Rey’s voice is full of wonder.</p><p>Stunned, Ben can only nod.</p><p>With the pizza decision out of the way they are left in limbo again, but this time Rey has warmed up to him considerably.</p><p>“What do we do now?” she asks enthusiastically, bouncing on her legs a little.</p><p>Hi bites his lip again.</p><p>“What do you do on sleepovers?”</p><p>“What’s a sleepover?” she asks with a confused frown.</p><p>“Um,” Ben mumbles, unsure what to say. He had only ever had Poe for that, and those were a while ago and hardly relevant experience, all things considered. “It’s when you stay the night with your girlfriends and you, er, do each other’s nails and braid hair, I think,” he finishes lamely.</p><p>Rey cocks her head like a baby kitten. “Other girls do that?”</p><p>“Uh-huh.” Ben tries his best not to blush. He might be fifteen, but his experience with girls of any age is purely… theoretical. Not that this little gremlin needs to know that.</p><p>“I don’t know how to braid hair,” Rey mumbles shyly, lost in her own thoughts.</p><p>“I do,” Ben automatically responds before he could catch himself. Rey gives him a curious look. He blushes. “My mom is from Alderaan.”</p><p>“What’s that?” the girl asks confusedly.</p><p>Ben sighs.</p><p>“It’s a small country, it doesn’t exist anymore, but hair braiding is a big part of their, I mean, <em>our</em> heritage.”</p><p>She frowns. “Heri-“</p><p>“Heritage. Traditions from your ancestors. People that lived before you,” he quickly explains.</p><p>Rey nods to herself. “They knew how to braid?”</p><p>“They even had a special meaning for each braid,” Ben tries to clue her in.</p><p>Her eyes light up instantly.</p><p>“Like a secret code?”</p><p>He has never thought about it that way, but when Rey puts it like that… “Sort of.”</p><p>“So you’re a <em>spy</em>,” she eyes him with newfound appreciation. “Cool.”</p><p>Ben awkwardly rubs the back of his neck. “I might be.”</p><p>“Can you braid ‘Teedo is mean’?” Rey casually asks.</p><p>He snorts.</p><p>“Not quite.” Judging by the look on her face his level of coolness has significantly dropped and Ben doesn’t like the feeling. “I can braid a warning,” he offers promptly. “Or something different. A wish, for example. What do you want?”</p><p>Weirdly, Rey avoids looking at him; she bites her lip and stares on the floor.</p><p>“I want to stay with Maz and Chewie, I don’t want to go back,” she whispers barely audibly.</p><p>His heart pangs. From his parents’ whispers Ben knows that this girl didn’t come from a good background and while he can’t imagine Chewie and Maz ever letting a child go, the silent tears in her eyes suggest that Rey has been abandoned before. For him it’s inconceivable.</p><p>“You won’t have to,” he says quietly, his fingers working her silken tresses.</p><p>He’s not good with emotional stuff, he doesn’t know how to console kids. and he doubts Rey would let him, given how independent she is. So Ben pretends he doesn’t see anything, sits her on the chair, and untangles her hair from her silly buns.</p><p>“They all say that and then leave,” she says so simply it breaks his heart.</p><p>“Oh. Rey. No one else will leave you, I promise,” Ben says and he means it. This girl will never be alone again, not if he has any say in it.</p><p>Before he knows it his fingers divide her locks into parts and twist them in braids, one for family, one for belonging and one for love. Every strand, every hair is a promise he’s going to keep. Twined, they form one big braid that Rey, sweet girl, after discretely wiping her eyes, proclaims <em>cool</em>. They get their pizza and lounge together on the couch, watching Star Wars (she doesn’t like My Little Pony). The night’s not half as bad as expected.</p><p> </p><p>Ben wakes up to his mother gently ruffling his hair and Chewie untangling Rey from where she was splayed asleep against him like a baby koala, end credits running on the screen. Leia smiles at Rey’s new hair and Han chuckles.</p><p>“Looks like she has him wrapped around her little finger,” he says wryly.</p><p>“Like father, like son,” Maz comments, blinking owlishly behind her glasses.</p><p> </p><p>-------</p><p>“Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben!” Rey enthusiastically jumps around him. “Cheer up!”</p><p>At fourteen, she’s like a ball of concentrated sunshine, beaming with energy and optimism. Even such a Grinch as he can’t help but smile. The years in Maz and Chewie’s care were good for her; Rey blossomed into a kind, sweet girl everyone adores. She’s inseparable from Finn and Jess, her BFFs as she calls them, but Ben is always extra special to her.</p><p>He makes her sit in the chair to brush her hair properly. It’s their tradition to braid her hair in Alderaanian styles for any special event, like Leia’s Christmas bash. Rey can barely sit still, jittery with exuberant energy, squirming and fidgeting with her dress more than usual.</p><p>“Why are you so excited?” Ben asks with a laugh.</p><p>“You’re here!” She squeaks, trying to turn around. “Everyone is, even Poe.”</p><p>“He never misses Mom’s bash,” Ben shrugs. Even though they both have their own adult lives, they always come home for holidays.</p><p>“I know! It’s nice,” Rey sighs dreamily. “Poe is nice,” she says offhandedly, as if in passing. “And handsome. And he drives a cool car. Does he have a girlfriend?”</p><p>No matter how hard she tries to be casual, Ben sees right through her.</p><p>“Rey,” he starts.</p><p>“Just kidding.” She laughs, but it sounds a bit off. “He’s cool, though. Poe,” Rey adds as if he could forget. “Do you think he’ll love my dress?”</p><p>Ben rolls his eyes. It’s red with a touch of sparkle. Poe is a known sucker for all things festive.</p><p>“Of course he will.”</p><p>“He said I’m all grown up and smiled at me yesterday,” Rey muses with a faraway look on her face. “Do you think he might have a crush on me?” Her innocent question makes his heart skip a beat. “No, he probably doesn’t.”</p><p>“Who knows,” Ben responds gruffly.</p><p>It’s natural for a girl to have a crush on someone older, especially on someone like Poe. Hell, he himself used to have a crush on Poe as a teen. And that’s exactly what sours his mood. Because he <em>knows </em>Rey is going to have her heart broken and Ben would do anything to avoid that.</p><p>“What are you braiding?” she asks curiously. “There are braids for love, right? Not that I’m in love or anything…”</p><p>“Uh-huh,” he grunts, deftly weaving into the traditional coming-of-age style two small braids, one for care and one for protection. She will need them tonight.</p><p>Rey twirls in front of the mirror, admiring herself.</p><p>“This one is pretty, isn’t it?”</p><p>“It is.”</p><p>She throws herself at him with a happy <em>squee</em>.</p><p>“You’re so good to me, Benny! Thank you! I know Poe will like it.”</p><p>He buries his face in her hair and mutters, “Of course he will.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey’s face is buried in his chest, her tears soaking through his shirt, but Ben couldn’t care less. The only thing that matters is her hurt.</p><p>“…I, I walked in and… Poe and Finn were under mistletoe… kissing…”</p><p>Ben squeezes her tighter. “Oh sweetheart, I’m so sorry.”</p><p>Tomorrow he’ll ask Poe why the fuck he was <em>kissing a minor</em>, tomorrow he’s going to kick some sense into his friend’s stupid pretty head for being so careless, but tonight is all about Rey.</p><p>“You knew, didn’t you?” she doesn’t sound accusing, just pitiful.</p><p>His chest hurts.</p><p>“I’m sorry.”</p><p>She sniffs. “Why does no one love me?”</p><p>Oh, his poor baby girl has no idea how wrong she is.</p><p>“<em>I</em> do, Rey, I do,” Ben promises, rubbing soothing circles into her back. “I’ll always love you, Sweetheart.”</p><p>She only squeezes him tighter.</p><p> </p><p>-------</p><p>“Please, Ben, you’re my only hope.”</p><p>At eighteen, Rey has absolutely irresistible puppy dog eyes. She also has a face from Pre-Raphaelite paintings and the trim figure of a beautiful young woman. He doesn’t know when his little almost sister, all elbows and coltish legs, turned into this ethereal creature.</p><p>“Your only hope is to study for your exam,” Rose snarks from her seat, deeply amused by the fact that Rey needs <em>a braid</em> to pass her Advanced Math exam. The girls moved in together when they found out they both had gotten into Coruscant University and it was only natural for Ben to keep an eye on them. As if he could take his eyes off Rey.</p><p>He doesn’t know how or when it happened, but Ben slipped and fell head over heels. It’s wrong, so wrong; he’s like a brother to her and she’s just a minor, he was charged with her safety and well-being- and yet he can’t help it. Ben knows damn well he’s disgusting. There’s nothing he can do about it. The attraction is so deep and profound it can’t be stopped, only concealed.</p><p>And conceal he does. Ben does everything in his power to keep Rey safe and happy, cooks her meals, soothes her nerves, makes sure she sleeps enough and braids her hair, all the while keeping himself in check. She doesn’t need his advances, she needs her older brother. If only he could be just that.</p><p>“Don’t be a smartass, Rosie,” Rey chastises her friend lightly. “Ben is a miracle worker, I swear.”</p><p>“Is he now?” Rose asks wryly.</p><p>He swears, this girl can see right through him. And doesn’t that make it worse?</p><p>“His braids are magical,” Rey insists stubbornly with a pretty pout.</p><p>Ben flusters like he always does.</p><p>“You flatter me.”</p><p>“Do not,” she petulantly responds. “They saved my ass so many times. He can braid whole messages with my hair,” she explains to Rose, who cocks her eyebrow.</p><p>“How convenient. I bet they are <em>quite</em> informative.”</p><p>Ben does his best not to blush, his fingers twisting knowledge, wisdom, and luck into Rey’s beautiful locks.</p><p>“Y-yes, they are,” he stammers, feeling caught red-handed.</p><p>Rose gives him an unimpressed look.</p><p> </p><p>Triumphant, Rey throws herself at Ben, barely giving him a moment to set down her celebratory pizza. He holds her tight and wishes to never let her go.</p><p>“You did it,” he whispers into her hair.</p><p>“Thanks to you,” she mumbles into his chest shyly.</p><p>Ben can’t have that.</p><p>“No, Rey, because you’re <em>brilliant</em>.”</p><p>She beams at him with the force of ten burning suns, kisses his cheek, and dashes over to explore the pizza boxes.</p><p>“You’ll have to tell her one day,” Rose says quietly, giving him a start.</p><p>Ben frantically checks if Rey heard her, but she seems completely oblivious. He breathes out in relief.</p><p>“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”</p><p>The girl huffs exasperatedly. “Don’t go cute on me, Solo. She <em>has to</em> know.”</p><p>Ben thinks about confessing his feelings, about the look of shock, horror or worse, disgust, on Rey’s pretty face, about the inevitable separation that would follow after, and shakes his head.</p><p>“No, she doesn’t.”</p><p>Rose makes an odd sound between irritation and exasperation. Ben is convinced he hears her mumble, “Idiots, I swear to God.”</p><p> </p><p>-------</p><p>“Thank you so much again. This means a lot to me,” Rey says shyly, catching his eyes in the mirror. At twenty-one, she’s a walking dream, gorgeous, smart, compassionate, driven, and so breathtakingly beautiful it hurts to look at her. Hurts Ben, that is. There are other men, other <em>boys</em>, who look at her just fine, who take her out on dates and flirt with her. It’s natural, really, who can resist Rey? It’s totally fine that she wants to find her Prince Charming. It just <em>hurts</em>.</p><p>“Any time,” he says, starting to part her tresses. It’s their tradition to braid her hair before her dates, as weird as it is for him. Rey hopes for good luck. Ben… Well, in a small act of defiance, he styles her hair into a courting braid every time, even though the chance of her date being of Alderaanian origins and recognizing that this woman is spoken for are barely above zero. He doesn’t want Rey to be alone forever, no, he only wants a few more moments with her.</p><p>“You really mean it,” she smiles in amazement. “You’d do this for my every date?”</p><p>“As long as you’ll have me,” he responds honestly.</p><p>In the mirror, Rey frowns lightly.</p><p>“But Ben, don’t you have your own plans?” Her eyes round in horror. “Oh my God, please don’t say I snatched you from your own date.”</p><p>Ben scoffs at the idea. It’s honestly laughable. No other woman can hold a candle to Rey. He knows, he’s tried.</p><p>“You know I don’t date,” he answers evenly and watches her eyebrows draw together in confusion.</p><p>“Why? It just doesn’t make any sense. You’re kind and smart and gorgeous, you should find someone to appreciate you. I’m serious, Ben,” Rey insists when he ducks his head bashfully, too scared she’ll notice the longing in his eyes.</p><p>“Dating is exhausting,” he retorts. Especially when you are in love with someone else.</p><p>“Don’t you want a relationship?” she asks unsurely.</p><p>“I do. With the right person.” This is as close to the truth as he can get.</p><p>“Then how are you going to meet your person? Wait until they break into your apartment?” Rey teases cheekily, her dimples showing on her cheeks, and for a second Ben struggles to breathe.</p><p>“I’m not that bad.”</p><p>“Yes, you are.”</p><p>“I did meet you,” he responds without thinking. “And you <em>are</em> my person.”</p><p>Rey’s whole face softens.</p><p>“Oh, Ben.”</p><p>That’s too much, her soft eyes and gentle voice, and how much he has exposed himself in two sentences. He grabs an elastic in panic and ties off his handiwork before something else comes up.</p><p>“All done. Your date will be smitten,” Ben says gruffly.</p><p>The look on her face is inscrutable.</p><p>“Thank you.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey’s date nights are his junk food and movie nights. It’s easier to immerse himself into a fictional world than to think about the love of his life being with someone else, kissing someone else, going home with someone else.…</p><p>His thoughts are interrupted by the doorbell. Who could it be? The food has already been delivered. He opens the door and his eyes round.</p><p>“Rey? Is everything all right?”</p><p>She stands there, so small, so unsure.</p><p>“Yes. Ben…”</p><p>His protective instincts take over. He ushers her in, frantically checking her all over. What could have gone wrong? What did her date do?!</p><p>“Are you OK? Are you hurt?”</p><p>“No, I…”</p><p>“How was your date?” Ben asks anxiously.</p><p>Rey is not looking him in the eye.</p><p>“Fine, it was fine.”</p><p>“Then why?” Why is she in his apartment, looking so lost and scared, instead of being with her hot date?</p><p>Rey lifts her head, her eyes now full of determination.</p><p>“Because I was sitting there with this absolutely perfect boy, so good, so kind, so cute, so talented, and all I could think about was that he <em>wasn’t you</em>.”</p><p>Ben can’t believe his ears.</p><p>“Rey,” he rasps.</p><p>“No, wait,” she stops him. “I know that you don’t think about me that way and I’m probably ruining everything, but when you said I’m your person, I…”</p><p>Ben has heard enough. Enough to drop his fears and hesitations and to cut her off with a bruising kiss, a kiss full of longing and desire for her.</p><p>“You’re not ruining anything,” he whispers, his forehead pressed to hers, his fingers caressing her braid. “Never.”</p><p>Rey laughs and cries at the same time.</p><p>“Thank God. I was so scared.”</p><p>He gently wipes of her tears. “Don’t be.”</p><p>Rey smiles at him, a thousand suns behind her eyes.</p><p>“You’re my person, too.”</p><p> </p><p>-------</p><p>“Are you sure it will be OK?” Rey asks uncertainly, her hands fidgeting with the hem of her dress. Ben nuzzles the back of her neck, then kisses the tender skin to distract her from her thoughts.</p><p>“Sweetheart, my parents adore you.”</p><p>“They love their little almost niece Rey, but what will they do with evil seductress Rey who’s tempted their baby boy?” she pouts.</p><p>He can’t help it, he bursts out laughing.</p><p>“Seductress? They would be more likely to think I’m an old pervert who’s tainted your innocence.” Ben shudders lightly. “Just think about Uncle Chewie.”</p><p>Rey scoffs over her shoulder at him. “You dummy, they love you.”</p><p>“They love you more,” Ben counters. “And I’m genuinely terrified of Maz.” The woman is as small as she is mighty and it’s quite clear after whom Rey has taken.</p><p>“You big baby,” she laughs at his expense. “I’ll protect you.”</p><p>“That you will,” he nods seriously. “Who else would do your hair?”</p><p>Rey hums distractedly. “I can never get over how there’s a braid for dating.”</p><p>Ben pauses. “Um, yes,” he responds with a straight face, his fingers never pausing weaving the betrothal braid into her hair. What his girlfriend doesn’t know won’t hurt her.</p><p>“It’s so pretty, though,” she says dreamily.</p><p>“You’re pretty,” he instantly responds.</p><p>Rey laughs. “Sap.”</p><p> </p><p>There was nothing to worry about. The second Leia sees Rey’s braid she starts tearing up. Han doesn’t need old Alderaanian traditions to know, he takes one glance at their clasped hands and grins, “Finally.”</p><p>Chewie grunts his approval and Maz mutters something about silly kids and pining. Ben just looks at Rey and smiles like a fool deeply, stupidly, irrevocably in love.</p><p> </p><p>-------</p><p>“Mrs. Solo,” he says, catching her eyes in the mirror.</p><p>Rey smiles like the cat that got the cream. “I like when you say it,” she purrs.</p><p>“Do you now, Mrs. Solo?” he croons into her ear lovingly.</p><p>His wife shivers in delight.</p><p>“I do.”</p><p>She had said these same words earlier today, in front of their friends and family, but Ben is willing to listen to her saying them til the end of time. His fingers gently caress the complicated braid his mother weaved into Rey’s hair today. The Bridal Crown. He smiles to himself.</p><p>“Why is it so important for you to unbraid my hair?” his wife asks, her eyes involuntarily going to her wedding dress lovingly hung from their wardrobe. Ben had helped her with the endless row of tiny pearl buttons on the back, kissing every inch of her revealed skin. She did hide in the bathroom after that, to conceal her tantalizing lacy undergarment with a silk robe until later, because apparently undressing the bride is less important than <em>unbraiding</em> the bride.</p><p>“In Alderaan it was considered an intimate gesture,” he responds evenly, despite his flustered face. Leia’s stories are forever stuck in his subconscious and every touch to his lover’s hair, <em>Rey’s hair</em>, thrills him beyond reason. Then again, it’s her usual effect on him.</p><p>“You have seen me naked,” his wife counters with a smirk, naughty little minx that she is.</p><p>“Emotionally intimate,” Ben corrects her.</p><p>“You have that, too,” Rey points out, not unreasonably.</p><p>He knows so much about her he might as well be stuck inside her head. Or the other way around. It doesn’t bother him at all.</p><p>“I want more,” he says, dropping a kiss on her shoulder.</p><p>Rey shivers.  “Greedy boy.”</p><p>“Keep talking like that and we’ll get sidetracked,” he warns her half-jokingly. Ben is only human and the effect his wife has on him is unparalleled. But alas, if they go that way the pins would stay in her hair for some time more.</p><p>“We don’t want that,” she decides wisely.</p><p>“No, we don’t.”</p><p>Ben slowly takes out the flowers that hide the elastics when Rey remembers something.</p><p>“Leia said that my hair is like a letter.”</p><p>He nods. “Yes. Traditionally, the bride’s mother leaves her well-wishes, but since Maz is not from Alderaan…” he trails off.</p><p>Rey smirks.</p><p>“She gave some suggestions.”</p><p>Knowing Maz (and his mother), Ben peers more closely into the mess of curls, braids, and twists and promptly goes red in the face.</p><p>“I can see that.”</p><p>“What? What’s there?”  Rey perks up with curiosity.</p><p>He shushes her.</p><p>“These two braids,” Ben traces the twists that frame the artful arrangement on the back of Rey’s head, “they mean two families becoming one. These little things,” he starts unpinning separate braids, that form a complicated arrangement, “stand for devotion, passion, trust, companionship, kids, kids, kids, yeah, mom was really subtle,” he chuckles to himself. “These… looks like they were worried I’m leaving you unsatisfied,” Ben confesses with a flush on his face, shuddering to think about his mother telling him <em>that</em>.</p><p>“They shouldn’t have,” Rey responds with a small satisfied smirk.</p><p>He clears his throat awkwardly.</p><p>“Right. So, healthy love life, friendship, wealth, happiness, loyalty, and bliss,” Ben finishes with the back part of her hair. “Now this crown,” he refers to the braid that circles her head, “is simple. It means love. But look how it wraps around your head?” He traces the full circle around her head, Rey’s eyes following him in the mirror. “Without beginning or end. Love endless, profound, complete, and eternal. True, pure love.”</p><p>As he says it, Ben knows that he is no longer talking about her hair, no, the words are deeper than that, they are a confession, a promise, an oath. He knows Rey knows it, too, he sees it in her eyes.</p><p>His fingers work through her silken locks and soon all the traces of his mother’s work are gone, leaving behind only Rey’s chestnut waves. They catch each other’s eyes in the mirror. Ben’s hands cover her shoulders. Rey’s breath hitches. Silently, she gets up, allowing her robe to slide off of her beautiful body.</p><p>“Take me to bed, Mr. Solo.”</p><p>He does.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Before you come yell at me for underage: Finn and Poe shared a peck under the mistletoe. Rey is unreliable narrator, she's hurt and upset and sees things under a different angle. Ben knows the story from her POV. No underage under Leia's roof, trust me, Poe isn't suicidal.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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